Here We Go Again
by angeleyes4191
Summary: Sequel-Time Is On My Side I think- good idea to read it before this one. Wonderland is healing, but not everyone is for the new order and certain things should've stayed as they were. Hatter/Alice, Duchess/OC aka Noah, Jack/OC, Discontinued
1. These Dreams

**Time has passed and I couldn't resist lol. I felt like I should continue this and that sorta rhymes....anyway, I just came up with this today and I'm kinda planning ahead this time so I'm still getting some ideas coordinated. And yeah, to understand any of this reading the first story is pretty necessary...unless you want to wing it...thats what I usually do lol.**

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_Running, always running. He had been doing this particular activity so much lately that is was getting slightly ridiculous, but is was pretty much the only thing one could when they were being chased by people that wanted to kill them._

_He needed to get to the cabin, once there could figure something out in the way of protection. It wasn't much farther and his sleek body could get him there in a few minutes._

_**Wait…wait a second…Sleek? When have I ever…? Damn, another dream.**_

_Hatter always had these moments when he lost himself, but these dreams weren't really something he could change. Once his eyes closed and his mind did whatever it is that it does, he was whatever individual his mind wanted him to be._

_Having the long list of the thoughts and memories of and ancient magical race wasn't exactly a perk, so he ran and he kept running till he came to the cabin, the one that his vessel was so desperate for. The sounds of the case died away once the door closed with a thud and some words passed his lips, words that felt both strange and familiar as they always did while they drained him of whatever energy he had or his vessel had left. The cabin was now protected.  
_

_Stumbling, the body dragged itself over to a sink that was in what must've been a bathroom. Whoever this creature was it had won its battle for the day and it was getting itself some much needed re hydration. It grabbed a crude glass from the corner of the white sink, they turned on the tap and filled it to the brim. A sigh that was both his and not his escaped the body's lips as is drank its fill. Once done they returned the glass to its place and glance up into the mirror for the first time…._

_And at that moment, Hatter knew who this body actually belonged to. Violet eyes were common among the Eyre, but this particular pair were unmistakable…. _

************

Hatter pulled himself out of the memory as fast as he could. The process was never easy, but over time it became..._easier_. His body shot up with a start once his head was clear and he took a minute to get his bearings.

His breathing was just as heavy as is was in the dream, but this time it wasn't from running. Quickly he dragged himself out of bed and entered the bathroom. Once the door was closed he repeated the actions from his dream, but this time he was filling a glass for himself.

It had been three months since the Chess incident, but he still wasn't used to the dreams. As he drained the glass, Hatter knew that in all likely hood he would never get used to them and he didn't mind that.

The idea that these thoughts and images would become routine for him was something that scared him more than the dreams themselves.

************

She knew that he was awake the moment his eyes opened, it was a sense that she had developed over the last couple of months, but she let him go for a few minutes. This was normal. He would wake up, go drink something, and then return only to pull her into his arms like he needed her close so he could fall back to sleep. Some nights she doubted that he even knew that she was conscious and that was perfectly alright with her.

During the last few months, his actions and his warmth told her that he hadn't really changed. Sure, some things were different, but he was still tangible. Solid. He wasn't going to fade. He wasn't going to disappear, both physically and spatially. He needed her and she liked that.

_Must've been a bad one_, Alice thought to herself before she pulled herself out of bed and went to the bathroom door.

"Hey" she called through the wood, "You alive in there?"

"Yeah," he responded when the door clicked open, revealing a shirtless and disheveled person that she loved.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine…I'm fine." he muttered before showing her the glass that he was holding while his face lit with his trademark grin, "Just thirsty."

She knew that he was lying, but that didn't really matter, "Okay then, can I…? I mean, you're in the bathroom."

"Oh yeah, sorry."

It was an excuse, but at least it would get him back in bed.

************

Alice wasn't a good liar, that was a constant that Hatter would always be sure of, but he went back where she wanted him anyway. And a minute or two later she was laying next to him.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" she asked after she pulled his arms around her and put her forehead to his.

Hatter sighed, "It was nothin' new."

"Well, what about it forced you to take sanctuary in the bathroom?"

"Lets just say a familiar guest…" he trailed off without mentioning the name. She would know without him saying it.

"…Did she-"

"No, she was just…runnin', but even that's hard to put up with….Plus, its pretty hard for me to look in the mirror only to see a woman staring back at me." he added the last part with a laugh.

He got the response he wanted when she smiled. Her smile would always be something that he could see even in the dark, " I'm sure that's and a pretty emasculating experience. And speaking of emasculating, are you going to be present at my lesson tomorrow?"

Since the shop was no longer selling the emotion teas, they decided to turn half of the public section into a mini dojo…while the other half actually sold tea. Real honest to God tea. They would be reopening tomorrow and he knew that she was really excited about getting back to something that made her the expert. Not that she wasn't and expert at other things.

"Wouldn't miss it. I some how doubt that I'll be busy when the famous Alice is teachin' karaoke next door."

"Its karate. Karaoke is singing."

"It's a good thing that you're a karate instructor then and not a karaoke instructor."

"Oh really, I thought that you liked my singing." she mumbled back with fake shock that was covered up the moment he kissed her.

"I _like_ everythin' about you…even the things that others might find excruciatingly painful." he said once he pulled away.

"Are you trying to tell me that I suck?"

"No, just that you'd be the star of a Jabberwock choir."

"That's so much better then, thank you."

"Anytime."

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way…sleep. That's an order." she said and followed her own words by shutting her eyes.

"What if I don't want too?" he replied with a raised eyebrow even though she couldn't see it.

"Hatter-"

"Is there a punishment involved?" he continued to mumble in a low voice as his hands moved over her.

"Hatter, we have work tomorrow."

He 'mm hmm'ed in agreement as he pulled her closer and soon all thoughts and dreams were forgotten…well at least certain dreams….

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**i'm pretty sure that i'm going to make shirtless Hatter a staple lol.**


	2. White Rabbit

**I'm gonna be completely honest, I know absolutely nothing about karate. Any terms that I use come from handy sites that tell me their meaning lol. Like Gi, which is the name for the karate uniform, or so the sites tell me lol. I would also like to reinterate that I'm still finding my footing here so if you review, and I hope you do, have mercy please!!! now on to reading you go :).**

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It was always hard to greet the sun after spending hours in the dark tunnels, but the man in white knew that they couldn't afford for their little experiment to be spotted.

"Sir," a young underling called as he rushed after him, "What if-"

"Think positive my good lad. The necessary damage has been done. It can no longer hurt you." he replied politely, not letting on an inch that his young protégé was trying his patience.

"But how can you be sure? There is nothing documented that has proven that what we fear is impossible."

"Timothy, nothing is going to happen as long as you keep your wits about you. Now I really must be off." he clipped off his sentence, picking up his pace.

"Can I ask where you're going sir? So I can reach you in case-" Timothy started but the man in white quickly interrupted him in a stern voice

"No you can't. I'm not going to be disturbed….I'm going to see an old…friend." he added with a sinister grin that stopped the younger man in his tracks.

*************

"Do you think that it's a bad sign to start a relationship while you're living together only to move out 3 months later?" Noah asked the only person that was with him.

"Ummm, why are you asking me?" Sarah commented in a voice that was both disgusted and seriously confused, "I'm ten. Its not like I'm shacking up with random guys."

"Hey, its not shacking up unless you're having-you know what never mind."

"Having what?"

"_Nothing_. Now are you going to grab a box or what?" he replied with a slight blush he picked up the heavier of the two boxes that sat in front of them. This was their third trip between Peanut and his cart and the Duchess's house since they started loading the cart that morning. With these last two boxes the house would be empty of their things and the cart full of them.

"Why are we moving out anyway? I thought that we both liked it here." Sarah whined while picking up her own box.

"We're imposing."

"Sophie doesn't mind us being here. She's told you that more than a dozen times."

"I know that, but being roommates and being in a 'relationship' are two completely different things. Moving in together is a step not a starting point."

"And you need to be the man of your own house." she whispered with a grin as she set the box down.

"That's not-"

"You don't want to be told to clean and to pick up your dirty socks, I get it."

"You get too much."

************

Alice was nervous, which was odd for her because she very rarely got nervous. Well, unless you threw her into a life and death situation, like bringing a date home to mom or being tortured by the Tweedles , but that would make anyone nervous.

"I mean what are they going to expect?" she asked Hatter as she tightened her makeshift black belt around the waist of her even more makeshift gi. She was killing time in Hatter's half of the building until her classes started.

"You to punch them,"

"Hatter,"

"What? I'm bein' serious." he laughed while he moved and fiddled with various jars and things. That was one thing about Hatter that Alice was utterly shocked by, the fact that the boy could make damn good homemade tea. "Everyone is gonna be linin' up to get a black eye from the Alice of Legend."

"If you're right then that goes completely against the whole spirit of karate."

"Karate has a spirit?"

"Yes-no…Its more about self discipline than it is about actually fighting."

"Okay, I somehow doubt that people are goin' to care about that…at first, but if you teach them with your passion, they'll come 'round." he commented sagely as he continued to work on whatever it was that he was working on.

"You think so?"

"Yep, just don't expect it to be immediate. You're gonna have to sort out the rotten apples first."

"Great," she said before she paused and started to watch him closely, "Are you open right now?"

"Yes, why?"

"Just, where is everybody?"

"Alice, I'm makin' tea. Real tea. When was the last time you saw anyone rushin' out to get tea?…They'll show up eventually, but the stuff ain't exactly as popular as it once was."

"Good point. I just remember how busy it was the first time I was here." once the words left her mouth there was a sudden playing of music and her eyes quickly found the source. The clock in the corner of the room was telling her that her lessons would start in ten minutes.

"Well, I think that's your queue love."

"Thanks for reminding me." she sighed, "You better come over and make sure they're not beating me to death."

"I'd like to see 'em try," he said in a tone that told Alice that he was at least a little bit serious, but once he caught the look on her face he added, "but will do." before he returned his eyes to his work.

He was so concentrated that Alice knew he wouldn't see her smile, but she flashed him one anyway. The idea that, despite his joking, he would be watching out for her gave her confidence a big enough boost that allowed her to walk out of the shop without shaking.

**************

After a long night of working at the hospital, which happily kept her employed after everything that had happened, the Duchess almost fell off her motor bike in exhaustion. With heavy steps, she made her way to the back entrance of her rundown yet well loved house…well, well loved now seeing as it was inhabited. Her keys clicked into the lock and the door opened to…silence.

It was weird how used to Noah and Sarah's morning antics she had gotten, but they both decided that it was time for Noah to strike out on his own. At the current stage of their relationship living together just didn't work. She would miss them, but the Duchess was slightly happy to finally have her house and her relaxation to herself.

Automatically, the blonde was reminded that she wasn't totally on her own when her kitten Molly let out a soft cry.

"I know, I know sweetie. Mommy's home…which means food." she sighed to herself setting her keys on the table before she went to search the cabinets. Buying Molly was the first thing Noah did after he received his first pay check from his construction job. He hated it there, but he cared for her and his sister enough to stay with it despite the poor conditions.

Once the kitten's bowls were filled with the necessities, the Duchess moved into the hallway and started to make her way to the bedroom when the doorbell rang.

"A moment's peace is all I ask," she mumbled groggily as she rerouted her course toward the door.

The bell rung 2 more times and it was met each time with her shout of "I'm coming!" until she finally reached her destination.

"Look, I'm not trading anything." she started before she even got a look at who was waiting for her.

"Oh, you _would_ know enough to know that I never trade with anything of value, Princess." a man in white commented casually.

The sound of his voice sent chills down her spine. Chills that she hadn't felt in a long time. Chills that were totally unique to the man in front of her.

"Dad," she whispered once her pale eyes locked on his matching pair.

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**Oh my lovely readers, I do miss your words. Please Review!!**


	3. Wanted

**hmmm, I guess this would be a good time to mention that, sadly, I do not know Syfy's Alice...not that that's really a loss because I'd rather own their Hatter but I guess its a packaged deal or something. Yep, the only things I own are certain parts of the mythology the storyline and the various characters that I throw in here or there...speaking of characters....**

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Jack wandered to his office in hopes of finding it empty. It was already a bad day and it had only just begun.

For about a month now he had been trying to put forth the idea of a formal money system, like the one in Alice's world. To him a new system would be far more fair for trading purposes. It would end the days of a diamond for a shirt, but the committee kept putting the breaks on his ideas. They thought that the present trade practices worked well in the sense of a class system and the members also questioned the idea of placing a value on things that people are going to toss anyway. They thought that it would only further the concepts of greed and corruption.

To Jack they just put way to much stock in the phrase; 'Money is the root of all evil.'

The committee was the first thing that the King had put together after the events of three months ago. He knew that one person could not be the voice for everyone. Different ideas needed different mouths and the committee was just the way to create them, he just wished that they would listen to him every once in a while.

His thoughts clouded his mind so much that they actually affected his sight, causing him to walk right into the last person that he wanted to see.

"Good Day your Majesty!" Charlie said happily the moment he saw the King and bowed. Jack noticed that the older man had already been juggling a large stack of papers and the moment he bowed they went scattering across the floor.

"Devilish cretins" he muttered as he bent to retrieve his work. Despite the fact that he was King of Wonderland, Jack wasn't going to watch an old man struggle on the floor, so he quickly knelt to help him.

"How's the project coming along, Sir Charles?" he questioned once the two were standing upright.

"Splendidly, your Majesty. With my superb memory and the Caterpillar's vast knowledge and intelligence, things are falling into place quite well indeed."

"That's good to hear. I trust that a certain subject is cooperating without any trouble?"

"Oh yes, the lad is providing new information readily. By this point I think he's just as curious as the rest of us….I also believe that sharing is helping him adjust to the flow of memories better. Poor lad, doesn't want to burden anyone he loves with what he's seen."

"It's just as well that he's telling you what he knows." Jack replied in a voice that showed his station, "Now I must return to my office, but if anything knew comes up feel free to inform me at once." _It seems to be the only thing that I'm getting any results from_, Jack thought to himself as he passed Charlie without a second thought.

***********

"Yame!" Alice called to the tired and slightly bruised group of people in front of her and they all stopped what they were doing.

Over the course of an hour, after a short talk to explain some things, she had taught them a simple stance and she also taught them a simple kick. After that she sent them off in pairs and she was extremely pleased with what she saw, especially considering it was her first class. "Thank you everyone, that was a great start! Now that's all for today, but I hope that all of you decide to stick around and come back next week. So until then, Sayonara!" she added the last part without thinking.

"Ummm, Sensei Hamilton," a teenager boy started, "How do we…ah Siunarria?"

"What? Oh wait, sorry. Sa-yo-na-ra means 'Goodbye' in Japanese. You know what, just forget that I said it and I'll see you all next week." and after that everyone started to get themselves together.

With her mood significantly lightened, Alice walked over to the windowsill and grabbed her water. Taking a few sips, she silently hoped that then next class would go just as well. She stood as watched as the class filed out of the room, only to notice that the same boy, who looked about 17, was still standing in the middle of the room. He looked a little stressed and maybe lost, but other than that Alice didn't find anything about him particularly remarkable.

"Can I help you with something?" she asked in a slightly louder than normal voice so he could hear her over the sound of everybody leaving.

"What? Ah yeah, I was just…I was just wondering if you could show me how to do that kick thing one more time. I, ah I don't think that I really got it."

"Oh sure. I have a few minutes to spare." she replied without thinking twice as she crossed the room to where he was standing.

***********

"Name your price Hatter," Owl commented while she played with the small purse in her hands, "You know I haven't got much."

Hatter let out a sigh. He couldn't start giving out free product to his first customer, but it was Owl. Her quiet cowardice was one of the only reasons he and Alice left the Great Library alive.

"Look, Owl. I like you okay….And because I'm so kind I'll give you a box free of charge-"

"Oh thank you Ha-"

"But," he continued in a warning tone, "Just one the box and just this once, alright? We aren't at war anymore and a man's got to make a livin'. Got it."

"Got it." she snapped lightly in return, taking the box off the table and rushing out of the shop as fast as she could, passing a man on her way out.

"Hello," Hatter called to what he thought was his next customer of the day before he got a second look, "Well, never thought I'd be seein' you again."

"I can't really say that I'm happy to see you Hatter," the man replied as he approached the counter with his familiar swagger, "I noticed that whenever I saw you bad times were sure to follow."

"What do you need Danny?" Hatter questioned of the blue eyed man that stood in front of him. Danny wasn't what Hatter would call a friend. He used to work for the Queen's police. They weren't the suits or the White Rabbit, but they could do some damage when they wanted and Danny was good at causing damage.

"Your not still broken up about the incident at the port, I thought we put that behind us."

"You and your men totaled two shipments full of some valuable kit, s'not likely to be somethin' I'll forget."

"Hatter, you know that I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. Everyone knew what you did for the resistance. We couldn't've arrested you, what good would you be then?"

"I'm going to ask you one more time, what do you need Danny?"

"What? I can't come to a friend's grand opening?…Guess not, look I just have some information and I figured why not get something for it. So, I decided to trouble you for some tea in exchange for what I could tell you."

Hatter had to admit, after everything, he was wondering what Danny could tell him that would be worth hearing, "What kind of information?"

"The interesting kind."

"Fine one packet of tea, that's it, for whatever it is that you can tell me and then you're gone."

"Fair enough. I'll just get to it then. I'm sure you realize that Alice is the only oyster in Wonderland."

"Aren't you observant."

"I'm not done." he continued with a grin, a grin that Hatter didn't like, "And I'm sure that you also know that Wonderland isn't exactly full of saints. I mean, not too long ago addicts made up ninety nine percent of the population."

"What're you gettin' at?" Hatter asked as Danny leaned on the counter.

"Oh, just that I know a lot of people that would love to get their hands on your little girlfriend."

At that moment, Hatter had to employ the majority of his self control so he wouldn't punch Danny in the face, "Yeah, and what would they do after that? The King wouldn't negotiate the ring or the glass, not even for Alice. I, on the other hand, would find 'them' and beat them to death with their own limbs. I hope they aren't choosy."

"Wow Hatter, how conveniently you forget-"

"You seriously don't think that they would even attempted to harvest her emotions. The necessary equipment was destroyed."

"According to who? Wonderland's a big place Hatter, not even the King can search everywhere."

At that moment, Hatter's self control became nonexistent and Danny was on the ground. Quickly, Hatter went to his side, grabbed the front of his shirt and said, "Who are 'they' and when are they coming?"

Instead of a direct answer, Hatter only received Danny's laughter, which he stopped with another punch…in all honesty he was surprised that the man was still conscious.

"Really, Hatter I thought we were friends."

"Tell me Danny or you'll be missing a head."

"They are everyone," he started cryptically, "and they're already here."

Without a second thought, Hatter ignored Danny's continued laughter and ran right to Alice's classroom.

"Alice!" he called the moment he burst through the door…and right in on Alice, who had the beginnings of a black eye but was otherwise okay, standing with her hands on her knees over the body of what could only be her attacker. "You alright?"

"Oh so now you show up," she started while she placed her hands on her hips, " Yeah, I'm fantastic but I thought we agreed that you'd make sure they weren't beating me to death."

* * *

**Yeah, Danny was going to be like customer #2 but I thought it would do well to name him and actually create a character, for possible future use and I know you guys are being left on multiple hangers, like the one with the Duchess that I didn't even address here, but I'm the devil and thats how I roll lol. And I'll be honest, I finished this chapter about 5 minutes before posting and I didn't have the energy to proof read, please don't kill me!  
**

**Now, I see you subscribers out there and I swear I don't bite...I just eat reviews like Holiday Candy lol.**


	4. Bottle It Up

**I guess I kinda have a posting pattern now or something. I'm not all crazy like I was last story lol.**

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He had been there for over an hour. They hadn't talked much beyond the usual like; how've you been, what have you been up to etc, between cups of tea. But she couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay," the Duchess started the moment she roughly placed her empty tea cup on the table, "why the hell are you here?"

"What do you mean, sweetheart? I can't just drop in to see how you're doing?" her father replied in his oh so smooth voice. One that she remembered him practicing for years when she was a kid.

"No…no you can. I've never known you to show any actual concern. The only time you see me is when you want something-"

"You have nothing I want, Sophie. You're just you, here…alone."

"What's that supposed to mean?" _I don't want you here._

"What are you doing?" he asked while he got to his feet.

"I'm living my life, not that you've ever cared before."

"No, that's where you're wrong. I've always cared-"

"About what I could get you, or how you could use me. You've ever cared about what I wanted….I'm not stupid. You fed me to the jabberwocks so you could bump yourself up in position."

"For your own good. You could've been Queen by now."

"Yeah, and what good could that do you?" she snapped back as she got to her feet. "What makes you think that me being Queen would benefit you in any way?"

"Don't," he started a he took a step towards her, "Don't assume that I would need anything from you. A nation isn't completely controlled by its monarchs. I could tell you things about the power behind the thrown that would shock you darling."

"Get out," she muttered quietly taking a step away from her father. He was beginning to scare her. His voice, his body language was screaming trouble.

"You should really think about returning to dear Jack."

"Its none of your business. Please, just go."

"Oh, I am. Just remember, he won't be sweet on you forever. Besides, I doubt Mr. Duff is offering you anything of value."

"How did you…you know what, I don't care. Follow me, watch me, do whatever you want, just stay the hell away from me and the people I know."

"Fine," he replied as he stepped away from her and walked to the threshold of the living room, "Word of advice, avoid your little friend Alice for a while….She attracts trouble." And with that, the Duchess's father left leaving behind only the memory of white and an evil grin.

*************

"Alice?! What happened?" Carol questioned through the medium sized mirror that hung on the wall of Hatter's office.

Apparently, while Hatter was coming to her aid, Danny pulled himself together and ran. The only evidence they had of any kind of attack, was Alice's black eye and an unconscious teenager. The correct authorities had been called and they were currently on their way.

"Oh this," Alice started, "Its nothing. I-"

"If you say anything along the lines of 'I fell into a doorknob' I will kill you myself. What did he do and why are you still there? I would call the police myself if I knew where you were-"

"Whoa, mom slow down. H-David didn't do anything. I met an old friend and we had a match. And to make a long story short, he kicked my ass."

"You met an old friend and had a karate match somewhere in the middle of Hawaii, which is where you decided to go on a spontaneous vacation with a man that, from what I can tell, you've just met…Somehow, I really don't believe you."

"Mom, you know me better than that."

"I thought I did, but now. Alice, what aren't you telling me and when are you coming home?"

"Alice," Hatter whispered from the doorway, "They're here."

And this was the problem. The only time Alice could talk to her mother was when her mother called her. Otherwise Alice couldn't be sure of the time that had passed between calls in her world. Not only did it make for really strange conversation times, but somehow, they were always interrupted.

"Mom I've gotta-"

"You've got to go. Typical. Look sweetie, if you don't come home soon I'm going to begin searching for you the way you used to search for your father."

"Mom that's not necessary."

"Isn't it?…I'll call you again tomorrow, Alice. I only wish that you'd be home by then." and those were Carol's last words before she disappeared and left Alice staring at her own reflection.

"Alice," Hatter said as he approached her after what must've been a minute or two. "Are you sure you're okay?"

_I can't keep doing this to her_, "Yeah…yeah I'm fine. I guess we better get out there."

**************

"Your Majesty, Evelyn is here to see you." Jack's personal secretary called through the intercom on his desk. As soon as her words filled the air, he knew what was coming.

Barely ten seconds passed before his office door opened.

"Why is it you can't just wait till I give you permission to enter? I am King after all." Jack asked from his position in front of the sword case. It wasn't uncommon to find him to staring at the thing for hours on end.

"Because my time is valuable, my King." the red head replied with a grin the moment she took a seat in the chair across from his desk.

"Not as valuable as mine." he returned as he too took a seat, the only difference was that he took his behind the desk.

"Keep telling yourself that Jack and I'm sure you'll start to believe it."

"You know, I can have you beheaded for that."

"You could, but you aren't your mother. You like criticism."

"True. Now do you have more plans for me, or are you just here to once again poke fun at the man who pretends to be King?"

"I never said that," Evelyn replied, fixing her glasses while fiddling with the tube that she held in her hands.

"But its been implied."

"Jack-"

"Please, just show me the plans Evie."

"Fine…umm, you said that you wanted it to be efficient and that you wanted it to run clean, as to not pollute the air. So, ah I've come up with this," she paused while she pulled a large piece of paper out of its protective tubing and laid it out flat on Jack's desk, "You'll see that over all it's a very simple design when you taken into account the ones that were brought through the looking glass. I give it only a few months before we're able to get them to fly like the flamingos."

"When can we start putting these plans into production?" Jack asked as he lifted the beginning plans of Wonderland's first car. They would be smaller than the beetles but larger than the flamingos, and they would be increasingly more affordable to the general public.

"Well, seeing as the main cities are many stories high, myself and my colleagues believe that these vehicles should definitely have flying capabilities before they are available to the public."

"And why is it taking so long? I thought with our vast array of vehicles that are already capable of flight that they'd be done by now."

"The simple issue is size. We can't just place the motors of previous inventions into these because it can cause massive problems. First, we have to produce the necessary parts and then we have to get them to the factories that have the proper tools to put these things together. Its all doable, it just takes time." Evelyn replied as she took back the plans that Jack returned to her and placed them back inside the protective tubing.

"So, it appears that everything seems to be going well." Jack commented as he made himself more comfortable in his office chair. "However that leaves the question of why are you really here?"

"What do you mean? I thought you'd want to know about the progress we've made-"

"Which is something that you could've told me over the phone, seeing as your time is _so_ much more valuable than mine."

"Honestly Jack," Evelyn scuffed, "You can't possibly believe that I have some..._ulterior motive _for coming to see you. The thought alone is simply ludicrous." Her face burned red as she tried her hardest to avoid direct eye contact. Jack noticed that this was something she often did when she felt uncomfortable in his presence.

"Whatever you say….Now I'm quite sure that you've given me all the information that you can at present, which means you must be ready to leave."

"And you'd be right. So, ah, I'll fill you in as the project matures. So, goodbye." the red head muttered as she quickly left his office, leaving him alone with only his thoughts and a certain sword.

************

"Now that we're done with all this hard work, I figured we could go out for lunch. How does that sound?" Noah asked Sarah's new bedroom door.

After what felt like the entire morning, they finally had everything out that needed to be, the rest could wait till later because Noah was starving.

"Sarah?"

"I'm not really that hungry. You can go, I'm just gonna stay here." she replied without even opening the door.

"I'm not leaving you here. We just moved and I don't want you to blow up the house." he commented with a laugh, "Come on, we now have our own place and after all this time I think that's something worth celebrating."

"And I'm not a kid, _Noah_. I'm not going to blow up the house and I don't feel like celebrating." she snapped, pulling the door open causing Noah to lose his balance, but at least he was able to catch himself before he actually fell.

"Okay then." he said after a moment of watching her stalk down the hallway, "We'll just eat here, I guess."

"I'm going for a walk."

"Sarah, what's up with you?"

"Nothing, okay? I just feel like going for a walk." she once again snapped as she grabbed her coat from where she had placed it on the banister.

"Fine, just-" and she didn't give him a chance to finish before she continued down the stairs and walked out the front door. "Don't get lost."

* * *

**My dear readers, you know what I love?...Reviews. So please, oh please click on a certain line of blue words and tell me what you think.**

**P.S. I honestly want to know if my lack of description bothers anyone. I love writing dialogue, which is why I write so much lol, but I've never been extremely attached to description. The thing is, I've been reading a ton of fan fic lately and many people are utterly fantastic at description, which makes me think that I should really work on improving mine. Any thoughts? **


	5. Silent Lucidity

**:-P.**

* * *

"I think you should-"

"No," _stop it Hatter, I don't know how long I'll be able to refuse._

"But Alice, don't you think we should at least-"

"No, Hatter I really don't." she replied from behind the bathroom door. The Wonderland police, which is what Alice called them because she really had know idea what else to call them, had left an hour ago with great assurances that they would get to the bottom of this brand new mystery before it caused them any more trouble. And, if for no other reason than to cover up news of her attack, Alice canceled the rest of her lessons for that day. Some grand opening.

Though, one thing Alice knew, was that she wouldn't be able to get the image of that boy out of her head. At least not for awhile. He just looked so, pathetic and she was taken in by it. She didn't even know what she was more mad about, the fact that whoever these people were decided to use children to do their dirty work, or the fact that she fell for it.

"Alice, I'm not stupid ya know," Hatter mumbled through the wood to Alice as she towel dried her hair. "I see you after every conversation…you want to see your mum and everythin' else that you left back there…this'll give you a chance to do that and you'd be safe."

_Damnit, how can it be that he knows me like he does _she thought to herself before she secured the towel that she put around herself and the new other one in her hair. Slowly she opened the door. "And if I go, what does that mean for us? I can't just up and leave when things get hard. Not after I've finally chosen to stay with someone."

"This is different. People are tryin' to kill you and they won't stop." he sighed, his dark eyes boring into hers. "Look, it'd just be for one day-"

"And that's how long here?! I don't know how things'll change, how you'll change-"

"Alice, I love you. I wouldn't-"

"That's not what I'm saying." she practically snapped out before she walked passed him into their bedroom, "After everything that happened…everyday something's a little different with you. I see it and I know, but by now I'm used to the little things. Like you focusing on some things to the point where you ignore everything else around you, that's new. Like how you're completely okay with telling the Caterpillar about your dreams and not me. But I'm okay with it. I mean I get it, I do…I just don't-" she cut herself off, unable to finish.

"You don't want to leave only to come back to a completely different person," he filled in for her.

Without really thinking about it she whispered, "Yes," After that she turned away, she couldn't bring herself to look at him. Alice wanted to be strong for Hatter because he needed it right now, but she couldn't help feeling oddly relieved that she was finally able to let that fear out, in spite of the circumstances.

"And you don't think that scares me too? You don't think that I know what could happen? I can't help it…it scares me ….Lookin' at you right now and thought of you leavin', scares me-"

"Hatter-"

Before she could even get started he cut in, " No, just give me a second on the stage here. You've had your turn." and despite his forcefulness, he paused leaving the choice of who continued up to her.

Knowing that she replied, "Go ahead."

The silence stretched out for about a minute as he gathered his thoughts before he finally took a step towards her, "Alice, would you please just listen to me for once. I can't risk you stayin' here. If somethin' were to happen…I just, I can't do it. It would be the death of whatever's left of me….Its selfish and I understand that, I've excepted it….And if you don't do it willingly, I have more than half a mind to drag you over there myself, damn the consequences."

Alice took in a breath and a thought before answering, "You need me to leave and I need to stay, so where does that leave us?"

But before he could respond, the phone rang.

**************

"This is all rather perplexing to me, but as a Loyal Knight of the New Kingdom, I shall follow your lead great tutor." Charlie commented, looking over the charts and graphs and boards that were covered with the Caterpillar's musings.

"What do you think we are missing? We've been given the history of their coming here and we've had various accounts of when they were being massacred, but there doesn't seem to be much coming through of the middle. I suppose that it makes since the strongest memories would be from the times of greatest emotion, but still it is quite odd." the Caterpillar muttered while staring at the time line in front of him, "And, with the last full member of the race gone…something should've changed."

Usually, Charlie just let the Caterpillar muttered, but his curiosity was starting to get the better of him, "May I ask, how you have come to such a conclusion?" he whispered quietly.

"Whatever balance there was…is now completely broken. I just don't know what the consequences of that break are, at least not yet."

*************

Timothy was a little bit more than frantic, so much so that from the man in white's point of view it looked as though he was running around the lab like a tove with his head chopped off.

"These readings just can't be accurate. It doesn't make any sense." the young man whined, frightened as he moved from screen to screen.

"Timothy, when are you going to learn to keep calm? Panic doesn't fix anything, in fact it cracks the small wall, that I've put up in my mind to keep myself from killing you, even further." the older man sighed causing the bashful scientist to look at him in shock.

"You wouldn't,"

"You know my reputation…don't tempt me." he let the words sink in before he continued with a pat of the young man's shoulder, he held on so that he could keep the other man in place, "What exactly is going on?"

Timothy turned to him, his head practically vibrating from the force of his shaking, "Despite…despite what you said, we're-we're registering brain waves."

"But, how is that possible? Its dead." the man in white muttered in a voice of contemplation more to himself than at his companion.

"I don't know…if it wakes up-"

"Is there a pulse or has there been movement of any kind?"

"Well, no but-"

"And it has been drained completely?"

"Yes, but we don't know enough-"

"Than it is dead."

"How can you be so sure?" Timothy asked with eyes that the man in white could feel on him in spite of the fact that his back was to the scientist as he was now approaching the very subject of their conversation and the young man's panic.

"A theory," he replied loud enough so Timothy could hear him. Not even a moment later he was standing over the table where the body that caused so much fear lay. He stared down at it in awe, just barely leaning over to whisper in her ear, "Who are you talking to my dear?"

* * *

**There were phones in the casino so even though I might be stretching it, I'm assuming that there are phones other places too lol. **

**Please, pretty please make a comment :-).**


	6. Author's Note

**My lovelies, how long has it been? I've made a decision that you're probably not gonna like. **

**I have no idea what to do here. I'm completely lost, being busy sucks and this is what its done to me. **

**I had an idea, but in the past month or so I lost it. I tend to not plan or write things down. Stupid? Yes I know this lol. Anyway, for the past 2 weeks I've been trying to write something and well, its terrible. So, as to not subject you guys to utter crap or force you to wait any longer, I think I'm just gonna discontinue this story. **

**I shouldn't even have started it in the first place, so...can we just forget this ever happened? Please don't hate me :(.**

**If anyone wants it, you can take it, I give you every permission in the world....you just can't have the first one lol. I don't actually know how that works but we can figure something out. So, if I ever write a fic again I beg you not to hold this against me.**

**With love, **

**Me :-)  
**


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